A simple blood test could help predict the likelihood of a woman developing breast cancer rather than invasive mammograms and yearly medical appointments., a new study suggests.
A team of researchers from University College London (UCL) have identified a signature in the blood that can identify whether or not someone is likely to develop the disease.
Prof. Martin Widschwendter, lead author and head of UCL’s Department of Women’s Cancer, says that the data from his research is encouraging.
"We identified an epigenetic signature in women with a mutated BRCA1 gene that was linked to increased cancer risk and lower survival rates,” he said in a statement released Thursday. “Surprisingly, we found the same signature in large cohorts of women without the BRCA1 mutation and it was able to predict breast cancer risk several years before diagnosis."
Of women with breast cancer, only 10 per cent are genetically predisposed to develop it when a mutated gene called BRCA1 is inherited from a parent, the study says.
While women with the BRCA1 gene are 85 per cent more at risk of developing breast cancer, there is no real explanation as to why the other 90 per cent of women get it.
But by testing the blood and buccal cells of 152 people, Widschwendter’s team was able to discover a common signature that applied to both types of women—those with the genetic marker and those without it.
The study also makes a correlation between cancer and the immune system, which could be affected by the blood signature. This signature is based on a process called DNA-methylation, a biochemical procedure that can alter the expression of genes in the cells. The process can potentially weaken the body’s ability to prevent cancer development.
UCL is doing further research to prove this correlation and discover how to use their findings in a clinical setting.
